12 Ways to Really Live. Not Just Exist.
What does it mean to live? I mean really live?
I’ve been asking myself this question this month as we have been preparing to head west for a spot 10,000 feet above sea level where we will spend the winter snowboarding and freezing our butts off in our RV.
It’s insane.
For starters, it’s stretching our budget. In order to do this, we are saying no to a lot of things we would like to say yes.
Secondly, we are going to live for three months in our 320 square foot RV with a preteen in weather where the average low is 0°. ZERO. That is insane on more than one level. Mothers of preteens will understand.
Thirdly, I don’t even know how to snowboard.
We spent last winter in Florida. It was wonderful. We swam with manatees, explored empty beaches, experienced romantic island sunsets, and canoed with alligators. We seriously considered this option again and, right now, with my little heater going full blast by my feet I’m thinking we should have considered Florida a little more seriously for this winter.
There are so many reasons why we should be going back to Floria or to our “home” in California this winter.
But if I’ve learned anything living on the road, it’s that I want to live. Really live not just exist.
We lived a lot of our life playing it safe with Brent working in a cubicle and the boys sitting in a classroom while I wasted time on the internet took care of our household duties. Not those things are bad in and of themselves and I certainly don’t want anyone who lives a traditional lifestyle to feel judged. I’m sure someday we will return to a version of that life.
But, for us, going back to Florida or California would have been playing it safe. We didn’t sell our stuff and leave our comfy life in Ventura to play it safe. We left all that stuff to fill our lives with adventure and to really live.
Really living doesn’t mean you have to create a mobile income, sell all your stuff, and hit the road in an RV. Although I highly recommend it. 
Really living is living with intention.
Really living is focused on things that matter to you not things that the culture tells you should matter.
12 ways to live. To really live.
1. To really live, means, for most of us, saying no to some things so you can can yes to other things when making a budget or schedule.
2. To really live, means valuing time and people over money and things.
3. To really live, means facing discomfort and challenges.
4. To really live, means learning new things or being open to new ideas.
5. To really live, means trusting your gut instinct even if conventional “wisdom” says otherwise.
6. To really live, means developing relationships with people that stretch you.
7. To really live, means doing life and not letting life do you.
8. To really live, means sometimes taking the path less traveled or forging your own.
9. To really live, means shutting out the messages in the media that you are not enough.
10. To really live, means facing our fears and kicking them in the face.
11. To really live, means recognizing a big picture where we aren’t the center.
12. To really live, means realizing we are not in complete control of our lives and going with it.
Going to the mountains in our RV for the winter is hard for a terrified control freak like myself who doesn’t like the cold.
I’m terrified our heater will break and we won’t be able to afford a new one.
I’m terrified of the possibility that my kids may hate me for taking them on the road like gypsies when other kids are hanging out with friends talking about the lastest pop star.
I’m terrified that I’m going to feel trapped and depressed during the long winter nights in our RV.
I’m terrified one of us is going to break a wrist or a tailbone or worse.
Yet even with all my fears lined up, aimed, and ready to fire, I’m running full speed, like Red Rover, straight into the line trusting there are invisible hands to lift us when we fall.
Yes, tomorrow we will pack up those snow chains, pile up the blankets, and grab our helmets to head for a new adventure in the mountains.
Do you have irrational fears of the cold? Can you snowboard? Any tips to keep me from breaking my neck? What does it mean to you to really live?
Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn
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Journey with our family on the road at New School Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!
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I admire your family for living this adventure to the fullest! I’m not a fan of the cold, nor of being outside in the snow, so I definitely relate to all of your fears, Jenn. But I know what a great feeling it is when we overcome those, and what gifts can come from trying things outside our comfort zones. Have fun and be careful!!! xoxox
Thanks Tamara! xoxo
Are yall working while staying in the cold and having fun snowboarding? Just wondering if you make income of some kind while traveling.
Keep warm!
Hi Corey. That’s a great question. Yes, we have an income. Brent, my husband, works fulltime (or more) hours doing web/graphic design and video editing. He is freelance so while it is awesome for travel and flexibility, it can be stressful since the income varies from month to month. I’m not “working” in the traditional sense but I do consider educating my children a fulltime job. I just don’t get paid in money.
I have arthritis, don’t miss the ache of living in Seattle, but when it cools down here in SoCal, I enjoy it. It’s weird. Once I realized it’s not the cold I hate, but the cloudy skies, then I embraced the crisp air. I like bundling up (don’t use a heater unless all five of my comforters aren’t enough), but I’m not one for hanging out in it. I guess that’s from twenty-five years of living in Seattle with only their bus system for transportation and having to wait in the cold and wet so often. A huge part of me misses Seattle, but I don’t miss the weather, lol. Just driving up to Big Bear for a day, or when my box turns the AC down too low, has me slightly cranky.
The only real tip I have is to keep the toes warm and make sure they’re warm before you put the socks and boots on or they don’t really warm up. Oh, and lip balm. 😛 Yeah, I’m a bit acclimated to SoCal these days.
That’s a really good tip about the toes! Seriously thank you, I wouldn’t have thought about making sure they are warm before socks, I would have just thought they would get warm. We went to Big Bear once and had a great time camping with friends. I miss SoCal.
Eh, boss. Not box. heh.
Learning new things is always good (I learned to slackline this summer and I’m 51). The cure for the winter blahs and darkness is to spend time outside during the daylight hours (I live on the Canadian prairies–our winters are very long and dark). One of the best things about winter is standing in the quiet forest and feeling the world slumbering around you. I also highly recommend cross-country skiing (or snowshoeing!) at night when the moon is full.
Getting out of your comfort zone sets an awesome example for your kids. If things become truly terrible, you have the option of going elsewhere.
You are doing something wonderful and I envy you. Have fun in the snow!
I had to look up slackline. How cool that you decided to learn!!! Looks like fun!! I would love to be able to crosscountry ski or snowshoe in the moonlight. Dreamy!
I love the 12 things…
As a new(ish) mountain dweller, I’ve had to majorly adjust to the cold. What I love about the cold is the blinding white and briskness that hits you square in the face. It wakes you up. It’s a jolting feeling but it reminds us we’re alive!
**LEAPS TO FEET AND APPLAUDS**
This is so motivational! I am in a slump right now so to speak and trying to look for ways to dig out. I’m such a risk taker and I live life so fully that I border irresponsible. But it’s taken me places!
I never keep a job for more than a few years unless I love it. The job I loved most I worked for 10 years and then took my 401K money, cashed out, payed the taxes on it and moved to Hawaii. I got to Hawaii with 3 crates of my earthly belongings and two cars, moved into a condo on the beach that we leased for about 1300.00 a month and lived there for two years. Eventually I met PEOPLE and went PLACES! I ended up becoming the central figure at the resort, lived rent free on the oceanfront with a priceless oceanview, learned to scuba dive, spent time fishing, swimming, boogie boarding, eating local style, and when I had my fill we loaded up the container and moved to Lake Tahoe CA. where we spent a summer. It was depressing and a bad move. Beautiful? Yes. Isolated? Way. Not my cup of tea, but when we moved from there we ended up in Pleasanton CA. Now I am working in an industry with high end automobiles. It’s another passion of mine. Live! Live GIRL! LIVE! Life is a tapestry. We weave into it each day and at the end of life we look over what we’ve put together and either cry tears of joy at the beauty of what it was, or we gasp in disbelief at what it was not. GO FOR IT and HIGH FREAKING FIVES GIRL! Much love and always remember… There is a God and he loves you so much. One of the things he loves about you most is how you squeeze the most out of your life by enjoying what he created for you to enjoy. Don’t give up on your dreams and keeeeeeeeeeeep Liiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvviiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggg!
I’m a bit slow in replying but wanted to say your comment made me happy! You are awesome!
Beautiful list!
It’s a plurseae to find someone who can identify the issues so clearly